The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-04-07
A BOOK AGENTS SAY.

EDITOR BULLETIN:-Since so much
has been said about the business in
which l am now engaged, perhaps q
few words from me willnot be altoge-
thcr out of place. / first wish to
state that it was generally under
stood by the officials as we'll as the
agents that licence was not required,
to take orders for books, and this is
quite evident from the fact that the
law has never been enforced. Be-
sides, / was informed by an agent
many months ago, that he enquired
at the proper department, and was
then told that licence was not re-
quired of persons introducing sub
scription books. Now it is not only
the error, that it was any intention
on my part to beat the government
out of its revenue, which / wish TO
correct, but also the false impress
sion which seems to prevail, that the
book business is not an honorable
occupation. L admit that it is some
times not very pleasant, and that
men are not as glad to see you when
they know that you come to sell
book, as they would be if your visit
was to pay bill. also admit that
there are some agents who carry
the thing little too far. Notwith-
standing all this, nearly all our best
books are sold through agents.
Judging from the following extract,
it will be seen that persons standing
high in the estimation of men have
been engaged in the work. Says
the New York Key Note: "Many
of the greatest men in the worlds
history have been book agents. Ma
poleon and Washington were tenn
porarily book agents. Jay Gould,
now rich beyond the dreams of ava
rice, was in early life book can.
vasser; so was Mark Twain. Ralph
Waldo Emerson canvassed books for
Boston House; so did Longfellow,
whose success was phenomenal, his
pleasing address and manners no
doubt gaining him many hearing.
Daniel Webster paid his second
term tuition at Dartmouth by act
ing as a local agent in Merrimack
County, New Hampshire, for Con-
necticut firm. Bret Harte was
book agent in the fall of 40 in Cali
fornia. Gen. Grant canvassed for
Irving's Columbus for a short pc
riod. Ex-President Hayes footed it
all over Southern Ohio when mere
lad, getting subscription for Bax-
ter's Lives of the Saints. Blaine,
the magnetic and popular politician,
began life as an humble canvasser,
selling "A life of Henry Clay"
The Marshal's action in my case
as well as many others which l
could mention, reminds me of
little incident which took place in
the United States. The Democrats
had been out of power for many
years. They finally gained a majo-
rity in the House of Representatives,
and appointed man belonging to
their own party from ''way down in
Texas" to certain position, 1
think it waslSergeant-at-arms. How
ever, he had to employ door keep
ers, janitors, and the like, and to
see that they performed the duties
satisfactorily. Now having so sud-
denly been vested with all these
powers, caused the individual from
the "Lone Star State" to feel very
proud, and caused him to do many
things which he should not do. A
letter from this person addressed to
one of his friends was found in the
street of certain village, and, not
strange to say, was published in the
papers. In this epistle he speaks of
his high position, the many appoint
ments which heNhadzto make, and
finally concluded by affirming that
he was a bigger man than old (U.
81 Grant. AS to the article in the
Gasette which desires to have all the
agents exterminated, it is not at all
strange, when 1t is known, that it is
from the pen of "blasted Brit
isher," who perhaps wants it ac-
complished because 1t is "not Eng
Iish you know" G. p. Il.